CPS/Child welfare/DCYF info

[babylady4]

redhen, who are you talking to? Me or the OP?

I completely understand mandatory reporting and who needs to do the reporting. Suspected child abuse (to me) is more that one bruise in an unusual area seen one time. Am I jaded because of this event? Yes I am; I never want to be scrutinized that way again.

It would have taken WAY too long to tell the ENTIRE story here (I don't want to write a book). The situation was blown out of bounds by a jerk who did not give one whit about how his decision was affecting my 7 yr old. When I confronted him and told him the h*ll my daughter was going through I was given the cold shoulder. My daughter to this day refuses to look at the guy; he gives her the creeps.

The entire episode had my daughter terrified for 2 weeks that: 1. she was dying from the seizures and 2. she was going to be removed from the house. That is one heavy burden for a kid that age to have thrown upon them.

I would not say what I said about the DCFS if I had not seen it myself firsthand; both here at my house and foster families I know of. (Boyd I know you are a great foster dad just by reading your posts.) And like I said before, I guess it just depends on where you live and how your county handles things.

 

[redhen]

I was talking to the OP, babylady... I can understand why you are upset..

As i said..i agree that the system is flawed in some ways...Trust me...I have almost lost my job more than once for standing up to them and standing up for whats right..I dont back down..and they already know that i'll fight them all the way if i see something not right thats going on. Just because i work for the system..doesnt mean i'm a sheep that follows along with all that they do..Peace. ((hugs))

 

[babylady4]

Sorry redhen, I was just reading all the stuff on the other thread.....

I just hate it when people make major decisions that affect a lot of people without thinking them through.... and yes there should be some kind of repercussion for making false abuse claims. Also better guidelines for mandatory reporters would be nice!

 

[redhen]

babylady, Its true! there needs to be something else done. Another way..
But the thing is the media and lawyers have everyone running scared. If CPS leaves a child in a house and then something happens to that child.(which we have all seen on the t.v.) ...its holy hell to pay..it ALL over the news that the CPS left a kid in a house that was reported..etc...everyone gets sued..the media feeds like sharks.. And more importantly a child is harmed..

And so that makes the mandatory reporters hyper-sensitive to any innocent bruise...anything... its a tough, tough thing to make a call on. It really is! Know what i mean?
And it sounds like you were treated very rudely...there is NEVER any reason for that...never. *sigh* i wish things like this never happend..i wish we didnt even need CPS.. but for all their faults...they do help alot of children..

 

[sparkles2307]

You know tho, something that has bothered me is that generally speaking, foster kids have a few issues due to whatever abuse they have suffered, but they are placed right in daycare alongside the rest of the kids. Twice there have been foster kids at my kids' daycare, and I can honestly say that DS #1 has picked up behaviors from them. They are sweet kids, I actually wanted to adopt one trio of siblings but they were snatched up by a childless couple lickety-split. But I know that those kids went thru some nasty stuff (due to working with the CP workers who were involved in that case) and my kids picked upa few odd things that I now have to un-teach them. Its not the kids' fault at all, they cant help what their parental units did, but I think that CPS should have guidelines in place to protect the other kids that the abused kids are around...

*going to hide under her desk now*

 

[Sissy]

whew.. this sure was an interesting topic.

 

[littlefarm_bighappy]

Ok redhen, I don't know how posting a site that EXPLAINS RIGHTS to parents makes you upset. Or would you rather prefer that parents stay in an ignorant position so that they CPS's job is easier?

The vast majority of time that kids spend away from their parents in a reunification situation is usually due to the parents not having the $$$ to hire a lawyer, or not knowing their rights and legal time limits in a situation.

If you want to call me a liar about the four year old boy that was removed from the home because the parents were goth, and the final judgement on the sinkful of dishes, fine. But then you are going to have to call the foster family I worked with that tried to get custody of the boy a liar as well. See, they live in WI and have custody of his full biological brother (who they have because he is medically needy) and by law he should have been placed with his relative. But MN CPS stuck him in a home with 7 other biological children and no other foster children. He had never spent a night away from his parents, they took him a day after they visited, and they DENIED A VISIT AFTER THE PARENTS arrived at the services center because they CPS didn't like their attire (dressed in black, piercings)

So go ahead, I know it would be easier for you to believe that couldn't happen in your world. Just call me a liar.

Or the three year old girl I know they zonked out on drugs because she had "anger issues". Hell, I had anger issues after just hearing about how many homes and relatives she was in at the age of three. And at the abuse she suffered in different homes. Last time I saw ehr she was passed out on a couch at 10 AM while her caretaker smiled and said 'She's MUCH easier to handle now..." Yeah, tranqulizers will do that.

But see, the Safe Families Act specifies a limit of 15 months concurrently. That means a child can be in care for ten months, spend two months home, and as long as they close the case- even for a day- the calendar starts over again.

Yes, I HAVE worked in the system. Not as a caseworker. Not as a foster parent. but yes, I am a court official. I don;t want to give out any more info than that. And no, my children have never been taken or investigated, but family members have. Because of a DIRTY GARAGE.


And I would like to correct you- NOT every complaint must be investigated. Many, many complaints are screened out and never get beyond a phone call.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I didn't mean for the thread I posted to spur a debate (and to the OP, I'm actually a member on the site you referenced!)

I have CPS coming back on Monday to do what they call a Family Assessment. I can and have the right to refuse them admittance back into my home to complete the family assessment. I have also informed them that I will not be signing anything.

Also, when the CPS worker came this past Monday, her supervisor came with her. Now, the CPS worker doesn't have kids, but she's been doing this for 10 years. The supervisor doesn't have children, either, and that's because he cannot have children. He and his wife had tried for years.

The supervisor came out because he was told that we were freaked out. He told us upfront, "We don't have a court order or a warrant into your home, and legally, you don't have to let us in." He spent over an hour talking with us outside before we made the decision to let them in. He told us if we wanted them to leave, all we had to do was say the word, and they would leave.

In our case, we have family members who are angry at us, and were trying to hurt us.

CPS in my county has a very bad reputation for taking kids WITHOUT first doing the investigation. I know, they took my best friend from her home when we were seniors in high school. Her mom didn't even know there was a report to CPS against them. What had happened was my friend's younger sister had witnessed their cousins (ages 8 and 10) vandalizing a neighbors house. These two girls had been molested when they were younger, and were very angry kids. They told my friend's little sister (who was also 10) that if she told on them, they would go to their teacher and say that my friend's dad was molesting my friend's sister! NONE of it was true! But, because they had the conversation at school, and a teacher only over heard the LAST part, that teacher had to report what she heard. My friend and her siblings were taken from school THAT DAY without an investigation.

CPS told the parents to move dad out of the house, and the kids could come home. Dad moved out. He moved to a completely different COUNTY! Mom showed proof that dad moved out, kids were sent to foster homes instead of home. They went to court and proved to the judge that they had done everything CPS had asked of them, and it still took 3 years before the kids were let to go home.

That was over 10 years ago. Since then, our county has been working to improve CPS's reputation. Still, it's scary when you get called on.

Our county is also bankrupt. My Home Service Coordinator from Help Me Grow told me that she has families that she sees who NEED their kids removed from the home, but CPS doesn't have the money to do it. So, the kids are left in the homes and CPS is monitoring to make sure nothing happens to the kids.

Now, the investigation on us is being closed, and they told us that they cannot come back in two months and say, "Are things still going good?" Legally, they can't come to your home and bother you, there has to be a complaint.

I personally don't think people should be allowed to make annonymous complaints. If you know for a fact that the children are in danger, then stand up and report without hiding behind an annonymous hotline. If you have to hide your identity, then that makes me think you made up the accusations just to hurt someone.

eta: I also think people should think long and hard before filing a report to CPS. The way people live is their right, it's America. Personally I believe the only time anyone should pick up that phone and report someone is if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the kids in the home are being abused, and then you had BETTER be willing to go to court and testify to it! If not, keep your nose out of other people's families!!

 

[littlefarm_bighappy]

Sparkles, yes. Sometimes abused children have issues. If your kids were taken from you and placed in a strange home, do you think they would be perfect for the strangers and the strange daycare?

Even worse- consider this.... most foster homes have multiple foster kids... this can include children that exhibit sexual behavior or violent behavior. Kids can get taken away from their home where abuse or neglect isn;t occurring and get stuck in a home with a serial juvenile sexual offender.

I know, it sounds like a bad nightmare, but it's true. It's why I work to reform CPS policy and inform parents of their rights so INNOCENT PARENTS can now their legal rights.

Again, I don't know why redhen would be ticked that parents know their rights. If abuse is occurring, proof will cover CPS. but if the parents are innocent, they need to take care because with CPS innocence does not mean you are in the clear.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

littlefarm_bighappy, do you believe all CPS workers are corrupt? I would like to believe not all are out to take everyone's kids.